Cornerback Dimitri Patterson was due back from suspension Monday, a week after Jets general manager John Idzik first slapped him with an indefinite suspension for blowing off a preseason game against the Giants.

Idzik said Monday, two days after the Jets released Patterson, that by initially extending Patterson’s suspension until Monday, the Jets were not indicating they would wait that long to take action regarding the AWOL cornerback.

Idzik maintained, to nobody’s surprise, that he had no regrets about signing Patterson this offseason, and that he believes Patterson is a good player. The decision to fire Patterson came down primarily to one factor, according to the general manager.

“We thought it wasn’t good for the team to go forward (with Patterson on the roster),” Idzik said. “That is pure and simple. I think we all put the team first, and if you feel like something is not going to work that way, you just move on. That’s what we did.”

The Jets’ brass had not spoken publicly about Patterson’s release until Monday.

Idzik had no choice but to cut Patterson, after the cornerback released a statement Thursday that said Idzik lied when he told reporters Patterson went AWOL. After Patterson met with Idzik and coach Rex Ryan last Sunday, Idzik said he had “follow-up conversations” with Patterson, “just to really accurately ascertain what went on.”

When asked what impact Patterson’s statement had on the decision to cut him, Idzik said, “We don’t operate too much on statements. I prefer direct communication. You always like to hear it directly from, in this case, the player. That’s what we did. We heard him out, and he heard us out. Then we acted how we thought was appropriate given the circumstances. I don’t put too much weight on statements.”

Idzik declined to say if Patterson told him, to his face, that he lied about Patterson going AWOL.

“Suffice it to say, I think he had an open forum here to spill everything out,” Idzik said. “And then we told him our views as well. In the end, it just felt appropriate that we move on from Dimitri. I think that was the best thing for the Jets.”

Few people will doubt that disposing Patterson was beneficial for the Jets. But should Idzik have signed him in the first place? Patterson is a 31-year-old who has played for seven teams in 10 seasons, and participated in just 15 games combined over the past two seasons because of injuries. There were plenty of more successful – and higher-priced – cornerbacks available on the free agent market this offseason.

“I would call Dimitri Patterson a legitimate cornerback,” Idizk insisted. “That’s why we signed him. We like the player. We had interviewed the player. We don’t look back. There’s no regrets. We’re in a people business. You really can’t anticipate some things that may happen. You get somebody onboard, you get them in your environment, and hopefully things work out. It doesn’t all the time. We have to be ready to adjust and move forward. No, we don’t have any regrets in signing Dimitri.”

Ryan joined Idzik on a teleconference Monday with reporters. Like Idzik, Ryan naturally spun positive about the Jets’ cornerback situation. In a few days, none of these words will matter at all, when the Jets open the season Sunday against the Raiders.

Not only is one presumptive starting cornerback gone (Patterson), another (Dee Milliner) is uncertain for the opener because of a high ankle sprain. Converted safety Antonio Allen, who has moved to cornerback, is recovering from a concussion. The Jets’ top two backup cornerbacks are Darrin Walls and Ellis Lankster. Still, Ryan maintained he feels fine about his cornerbacks, because of course he is going to say this.

“No question about it,” Ryan said. “I understand where everybody is coming from, because we’ve had some injury questions. But I think when this thing gets kicked off for real, we absolutely have no excuses. We feel good about the players that we do have. Shoot, the great thing is we get to prove it.”